My wife and I just completed the 15 Days China Highlights with Yangtze and Pandas organized by China Tours. We selected the private tour in order to have a little bit more flexibility on our schedule. It was an absolutely amazing trip in which we were able to experience a very comprehensive cross section of China, including visiting some of the main cities, some smaller towns and villages, as well as some of the wonderful beauties of this land. We also had an opportunity to get immersed into the extremely rich Chinese culture and history. It was a tremendous experience to be able to see and learn so much about Chinese civilization and its people. In general, we found the guides to be very professional, courteous, and knowledgeable. The accommodations were quite satisfactory. The itinerary and schedule were packed with activities and we think we would have liked to spend a little more time exploring some of the large cities on our own. My wife and I have done a good deal of traveling and we think that this China Tour is one of the most beautiful and memorable trips that we have completed so far.
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10 Private Tour Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo, Chunqing, 3 Gorges, Shanghai
We had a very positive experience with China Tours. From the initial contact and throughout the planning process they were very helpful and quick to respond to my emails even booking a restaurant for us in Shanghai.
The tour itself involved several flights and bullet train journeys and meeting different guides at each destination; all the arrangements worked perfectly. We were accompanied to the hotel check in desks and even on and off the boat for the river cruise (including porters organised by the guide) and to the security gates at the airports/train stations. All the guides spoke very clearly and had a comprehensive knowledge of the English language and of the places we visited.
A great tour made all the better by the guides.
14 Day ChinaTours.com Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, Yangshuo, Chunking, 3 Gorges, Yichang, Shanghai
We were a group of three (71f, 75f and 73m) who took the small group tour with ChinaTours.com in May 2019. In short, the tour was well worth the price with one caveat. Here is what we liked:
1. COMMUNICATION – China tours communicated reasonably well through the pre-planning by email with very complete information and a good response to questions. During the trip there was a need to contact ChinaTours and the response was good.
2. SMALL GROUP – The group started out with 7 amiable members and half-way though reduced to 5 as two members went to other sites. We had a guide and driver at each city.
3. GUIDES – All guides were efficient, friendly and competent. English was understandable at all times. Three guides stood out: Shirley in Beijing was so kind and helpful even assisting getting a sim card for our cellphone In Guilin Tony went the extra mile to recover an item we left at the hotel. John in Beijing was extremely knowledgeable and helpful in getting travel arrangements.
4. SIGHTS – Two of us had been to China five times previously. One was a newbie. We all enjoyed seeing the main tourist sights and just as much enjoyed the high-speed train, van and air travel. We saw what many tourists do not see including a rural village, and the incredible madness of chinese construction projects. Some guides answered our political questions as well as normal tourist things.
5, FOOD AND ACCOMMODATIONS: The tour provided meals were all good in terms of quality and variety. The hotels were all high quality and clean. Location was good for all the hotels except in Shanghai where a taxi ride or metro was needed to get to the sights.
The one caveat is that the three of us are experienced travelers with one having visited 80 countries. Group tours require doing the group schedule and do not leave much time for creative exploring. We could not have seen everything we saw without the arrangements by ChinaTours, but a little more free time would have been nice.
All in all we would recommend this tour by ChinaTours.
11 Day Beijing, Xi’an, Guiling, Yangshuo, Shanghai Group Tour
Visited with my 35 year old daughter. Thought we were on a group tour but to our pleasant surprise we had exclusive use of guide and driver in each of the cities. China tours does not have a guide that travels with you throughout the trip. One guide driver team take you to the check-in desk (airports) or departure gate (high speed train) and the next is waiting for you at your destination. The system worked flawlessly with guide and driver always there to meet us at our destination. Signs in the airports, subway and railway stations are also in English and we had no problem navigating from check-in desk through security to the gate The guides were very helpful and really made each place come alive. The hotels they booked us in were new, or newly refurbished and of 4 Seasons quality with duvees, high tech bathrooms and a good selection for breakfast including western breakfast foods. My daughter has many food allergies and each of the guides explained this at length in the restaurants we visited.
Amazing Warriors, Walls, and City Lights
The trip exceeded our expectations. The country was beautiful and the history was fascinating. We were impressed with all of the accommodations on the trip. The tour was very informative and enjoyable with an outstanding knowledgeable guide who was #1. She knew about the history of Xi’an, both ancient and modern, and the Terra Cotta Warriors. She was helpful in directing us to specific locations we desired to go on our free time in the evening to connect with a friend, and even gave us her personal phone number so we could call in case we needed help during that time. She was a personable guide and enjoyable to talk to. We were glad to be met and dropped off at the train station, and hotel by all concerned staff. We felt secure in China as foreign travelers mostly due to our guide’s eagerness to make sure that we were well cared for in every aspect. Suggestions for restaurants and activities were useful to us. We enjoyed eating in the city with the local residents.
Private three day tour shanghai,Suzhou & Tongli Water Town
Great private tour, very skilful driver and thoughtful guide. Day one picked up from International Cruise Terminal (Boashan), we saw the sights of Shanghai, the Bund, Nanjing Road, Peoples Park, shanghai museum, and acrobatic show. Day two, Suzhou, Master of the Nets Garden, and Tongli Water Town. John, our consultant, worked with us to organize the tours according to our needs, the driver was very skilled, the car clean and roomy, our tour guide Jacki made sure he accommodated all our needs, the sightseeing pace very easy. Day three we were driven to Shanghai Pudong Int. airport, where our guide stayed with us until all formalities were completed. Highly recommend China Tours.
13-day Small Group Adventure in China
We had a wonderful vacation in China and the trip exceeded all of our expectations. It was truly an adventure for my wife and I to travel around to so many cities in China and know that the ChinaTours had every accommodation taken care of for us. The itineraries, excursions and sites that were selected by ChinaTours were perfect for experiencing the culture, history, landmarks and people of the region. By traveling via plane, bullet train, sleeper train, van, bus and taxi, we were able to really experience the many modes of transportation that China has to offer. Our tour guides were excellent and very knowledgeable about their respective city. The small group experience meant that we could take as long as we liked at a particular site as well as get to know the the other families that join you along the way.
I highly recommend ChinaTours.com to everyone that is interested in traveling to China. Thank you very much China Tours for a memorable vacation.
Mr. Tarak Akrout
We had 16 days private tour with China Tours.Guides were excellent,Helen in X’ian was outstanding we learn so much about X’ian history with her and the terra-cotta warriors are impressive.
We did also Shanghai, Guilin ,the Li river cruise is a must, the cruise on Yangtze river also was very relaxing with gorgeous scenery and Beijing ,each stop was fantastic.
I highly recommend China Tours if you plane to visit China.
I was able to custom made my circuit ,hotel, bullet trains, airlines, length of stay in each city without any problems with the help of Kote who always was answering in the next 24 hours.
Mrs Sharon Craig
I was in China for my son and daughter in laws wedding celebrations for a week and I had limited time extra to tour. I had very specific dates in mind which my usual agent could not help with. I found China tours online and was a bit nervous not knowing anything about them. I gave my dates and requests for where I wanted to visit. Within a short period Wendy came back to me with a perfect itinerary. I caught a boat down the Yangtze from Yichang to Chonxing, caught the train to Chengdhu for the amazing pandas, train to Xi’an for the wall and the warriors then Beijing for 2 nights for all the usual attractions. I still was nervous paying a company I knew nothing about but the communications before, during and after settled my mind. All the guides and drivers were first class and attentive and punctual in picking me up from stations and the boat. They ensured I knew exactly where I had to go when tackling the trains and they became friends. I was travelling on my own yet it seemed like I had friends there. Even whilst I was away I contacted Wendy on wechat and she was very quick to reply. China could have been difficult with the language barrier but all the guides spoke perfect English. Thank you so much China tours for squeezing everything I asked for and more. I would highly recommend you.
Mrs. Shirley Thackray
Visiting China has always been top of my adventure list so I wanted to see all the main sites and for it to be a holiday of a lifetime – this 14 day tour certainly made that happen! We visited Beijing, Xi’an, Guilin, cruise down River Li to Yangshuo, Chongqing then 3 night Yangtze River cruise to Yichang, finishing in Shanghai. At each place the lovely China Tours guides met us off the plane or train – they were all friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and we would have been completely lost without them as the language barrier is a problem! They were all great but especial thanks to Ginger in Guilin/Yangshuo who thought of everything and really went the extra mile to make our stay a happy one and John in Shanghai who gave up his own time to show us round parts of the city and how to use the subway on an afternoon when we had no formal sightseeing scheduled. Do bring extra cash to tip the guides, we hadn’t factored this in when ordering our currency.
The itinerary though full, worked perfectly. I was concerned I would find all the constant moving between places too much but the way it was organised meant there was free time as well as full on sightseeing days. As someone else has mentioned, the only thing I would change is to add another night in Shanghai as we only had 1 full day there and Shanghai is WONDERFUL! All the travel arrangements were seamless, the cars were all comfortable and air conditioned, the hotels were luxurious (and I am not a lover of hotels). I couldn’t imagine trying to do all this on your own, it just wouldn’t be possible to have the same experience. We had a mixture of small group tours and some time when it was just me and my daughter with the guide as people peeled off to do different itineraries. We met some great people!
I am so pleased we decided to include the Yangtze cruise as it was a chance to really kick back and relax after some of the busier days. I’d read mixed reviews of the boat we were on – Century Sun – but we found it clean, very comfortable, great food, lovely staff members and our cabin was huge! The initial booking and follow up communications with the China Tours office was extremely efficient. Especial thanks to Wynn who was always so prompt to respond and very helpful!
I’ve no hesitation in recommending China Tours and would definitely use them again.
PS I NEVER bother writing reviews but really felt I needed to reflect the great experience we had!